Straps Conditioning part 1

Straps are great for conditioning your upper body and core. I’ve made a video of a few of my favorite conditioning exercises on straps. After a ground based warm up I usually start with skinning the cat as a warm up for my training on straps. I do about 5 repetitions, when I’m only doing a conditioning session I aim for 3 sets, when I’m doing other training as well I might only do one. The first part of skinning the cat is just a leg lift, then you take your legs over your head and lower on the other side as low as you can and then reverse the whole motion.

The next exercise I show on the video is what I call middle to middle. From your legs on either side of one arm, lower your bum and lift back up so that your legs are on either side of the other arm. This exercise really work your core. I usually do 10 repetitions (5 on each side) for a conditioning sessions I aim for 3 sets otherwise I might just do one.

The next one is lowering from middle. Another great exercise for the core as you have to keep your body balanced while you’re lowering your legs. Eventually you can work up to lifting back up.

The last exercise in the video is sideplanche to sideplanche. This exercise takes some getting used to as you lower to the side with your arm behind your back. This really works the back muscles as well as the obliques on the way back up.